Standing Alone
by AlyxJ
Summary: It is up to Rue... her mother flirting with death and her 5 siblings suffering starvation. Rue will need to win for her family to survive...
1. Meadow

**Standing Alone- Rue's Hunger Games**

I roll the fragile object over in my hand, observing every edge, color and dent. I find it fascinating how a tube smaller than hand can make such beautiful melodies. In the trees at the orchard, I can close my eyes and imagine a land of forest and sunset. Meadows and lakes with fresh springs…

However, this is not the reality I wake up to every morning.

I wake up every morning to the faces of five starving children, and a severely ill mother. I don't tell my younger sisters, but both my mother and I know that she won't last much longer. We keep silent with an unspoken agreement to not let them suffer the same hardships I have. They will hopefully never have to work in the orchards with peacekeepers holding guns to their backs. My mother isn't working, so I'm the source of money coming in… and it isn't that much. The games could change this with the excessive prized money, but I would never go because my sisters can't earn money and neither can my mother. They would all die in less than a week.

I stare back at myself through our shattered mirror. I see a weak helpless girl, worn not by time, but by strength. My family rests on my shoulders, one slip and we are gone. The thought dwells on me, every breath I inhale of every day. But, around my sisters, I don't let it show. I pretend to be the optimistic girl they only know. But it will be hard to be like that today. The Reaping.

 **:::READ NEXT CHAPTER:::**


	2. The Reaping

**The Reaping Day.**

Young children cling to their parents longingly, in fear of the dreads they would face in the Hunger Games, if reaped. My situation, however, is different. I have five siblings suffering malnutrition clinging on to me for the life of our family. Clinging on to the dreads our mother will face if I were to go. I am now twelve, my first year eligible to be reaped for the games. I am not nervous, even though I signed up for tesserae multiple times. There has never been a twelve-year-old tribute from my district. But a dangerous thought looms in the back of my head… there is always a first. I pray that it isn't me, but the odds should be in my favour.

I wander through the ocean of possible female tributes. There really aren't that many when they all stand together, but one of them will be reaped. As soon as I take my place with the twelve-year-old girls, a silence falls over the crowd. The man I have only seen on television at home appears in extravagance. An array of coloured lights beam and false smoke drifts upwards. Edward Finkle runs onto stage spontaneously, posing for a quiet crowd. Everyone stands silent as Edward's voice booms over the town square. Edward tries his best to make the crowd cheer for death, cheer for the Capitol; but no one responds. A sudden gunshot fires into the already smoky air. It startles my sisters a bit, but neither I, nor anyone else hesitates, it isn't until a second fire that everyone begins to applaud in perfect unison. Edward accepts the forced praise from the crowd, and nethertheless, continues.

'As always, ladies first.'

Edward swirls his hand around the giant glass bowl, almost overflowing with names, mostly because of tesserae, not because of population. He has fun pretending to play with the crowd, holding up a piece of paper before rejecting it, and searching for another. This happens for so long, it gets to the point where it annoys me. He sighs in a final tone as he pulls out (hopefully) the final possibility. Edward returns to his podium, and carefully unfolds the small slip of paper. How could a paper so small, matter so much?

He announces the name of the next victim entering the arena…

'Rue Azuria'

I felt my jaw drop.


	3. A New Tribute

**A New Tribute**

2 minutes… that's what they told me. 2 minutes to grieve for the life you are exiting. 2 minutes to see your district through glass, for the final time. 2 minutes to farewell everyone you have ever known and loved. They will be watching you, but only when you are in your last seconds from death. Every other time, in your dreams.

My first visitor creeps through the door. A face I see everyday, my teacher. Her eyes are slightly red against her pale face, but she holds a weak smile across her face. She looks as if she could burst any second, I hope I don't have to see it.

"I thought you might need some last minute learning." Last minute. Her voice is trembling, however it is honey sweet. A lot nicer than when she is strict.

She holds out small parcel with my name in fancy scrawl. It looks almost like she expected me to be reaped. I carefully unfold the layers of paper, revealing a small golden pin, that shines in the false light. It is a single flame, a tiny fire, with a circle border. My eyes well up with tears, the last gift I will receive. I can't bear to open my mouth, even to show my gratitude, so I wrap my arms around her, embracing her for the first, and last time. She smiles, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. Before I question, she is gone. Back into the comfort of our district… her district.

I expect my second visitor to arrive, but a peacekeeper pulls open the door, and I have a feeling that he isn't saying goodbye. He storms toward me, pulling me to my feet by my arm, sending a streak of pain through it. Pain was something that I used to crave, until the upgraded security in the orchards. I might learn to crave it again… when others are the recipients. I push the horrid thought away.

"Your time is up." I check my watch.

"It's only..." he cuts me off.

"Your time is up!" I cower my head in defeat. Ugh, I hate people underestimating me… daily.

He pulls a cuff around my wrist, and attaches the other end to his waist. Really? Cuffs? He leads me onto the train and cuffs the side attached to his waist onto my chair. Wow. The are worried about me jumping off a locked, lightning fast train. If the train wasn't locked, they would probably be right. Edward Finkle sits in the chair across from me, and a sixteen year old boy sits next to me. Even I would mistake him for a career, if I didn't know which district he came from. He must be the tribute that was called when I blacked out. My eyes skim downwards to his own cuffs, they are a lot more bulky than mine. The fourth seat at our table remains empty.

"Rue and Thresh," Usually, my head would turn sharply at the sound of my name, as it would usually be a threatening peacekeeper. However, I never even flinch.

"Congratulations! The reaping was picked... " Edward looks downwards as if reading off something. It wasn't even the rustling of cue cards that gave it away.

"well." he finishes his sentence with an obvious tone of disbelief. His false smiles and gestures are very misleading.

My head only turns at what Edwards says next.


	4. The Previous Murder

**The Previous Murder**

Thresh exchanges glances at the empty chair, eyes darting between the seat and the door. Edward notices his discomfort and decides to mess with him.

'You see that seat Thresh? What do you think is missing?'

Thresh barely looks up from the table, he doesn't look like he wants to answer either, and really, I don't blame him.

'Huh?'

Edward wants an answer other than Thresh's silence.

'A person.'

Thresh mumbles under his breath. He doesn't dare roll his eyes, he knows how serious Edward is.

'A person! Oh now where do you think that person could be!'

Edward exclaims like Thresh is a five year old kid. However to Edward, he probably is. Thresh does not answer, or consider answering. He doesn't need to, Edward already starts talking.

'You remember the previous victor? 50 years of age, District 11 hasn't won in 35 years, heck, you would think someone won eventually win. Until… he was shot.'

That line catches Thresh's breath, not mine however, I witness shootings in the orchard weekly, as if it is a ceremony. Thresh did not work in the orchard, he probably went to school, so I can understand how he is shocked. He looks at me, wide eyed, waiting for my reaction, but it doesn't come and he senses it. His cheeks pound red, and he leans back into his chair.

'How was he shot?'

I can't believe I just said that. I was sure I was going to keep my mouth sealed but apparently not. Edward bends down, hands on his knees, and stares at me with pity from across the table. I'm used to that, but I still hate it.

'Do you really want to know?'

I don't know what to say… I think silence may be the best answer. Really, I would rather know something than not, but I don't really want to continue this conversation.

'Okay then...'

Edward backs away slowly and cautiously, like I'm a volcano about to explode.

'Right, you two, I'm sure, are extremely qualified and experienced in fighting? What about a knife? Gun? Bow?'

Great, sarcasm. This will be a long trip...


	5. The Capitol

**The Capitol**

Rays of violet light pound across the city. Far too extravagant to be a natural sunset. Something else, I assume, that wasn't good enough for the wealthy citizens of the Capitol. The Capitol. We're here.

First we pass crowds of people, and it's all wrong. There is something different with each and every one of them. Huge and dyed hair, tattoos scrawling different languages, so many piercings, it's hard to tell if any of them are actually human. Even the kids, massive dresses and tiny suits. Thresh walks up to the window and waves at them, loving the attention. The whole situation; I can't explain it, it's just… wrong.

They all cheer and scream words that are muffled by the thick walls of the train. We eventually pass them, and then it is quiet for a few minutes. When we see people again, they are dressed the same to the last crowd, but they don't cheer or scream. They all stare and sneer at us, cursing. Thresh looks insulted, and returns to his seat quickly. Then a set of, what looks like careers, stand on a podium over the crowd rioting at us. They hold massive signs bearing, 'DISTRICT 2' in messy scrawl. Thresh shouts insults at them, making the crowd fired up even more. We pass them quickly though, the scene changing to massive skyscrapers and glass buildings. Not a tree or plant in sight. I feel light-headed for a few seconds.

So many people, I find it hard to take it all in. Oceans of colourful people, stretching out way past my vision. I even gasp slightly, and Edward gives me a strange side-ways look. Finally, the train makes it's final stop, and we all depart.


End file.
